Electrical power distribution busway systems are used to distribute electrical power throughout buildings, particularly commercial or industrial type buildings. Generally, the busway includes a number of busway sections which are connected to one another by busway joints. Each busway section includes a housing that encloses a plurality of busbars which may be phase busbars, neutral busbars, or ground busbars depending on the particular application.
The machines, lights, tools, etc. requiring electricity, are provided access to the power conducting busbars at various power tap-off sections disposed along the busway. An opening is typically provided through the housing at each power tap-off section and the conductive material of the busbars is exposed for connection with an appropriate plug connector. To facilitate ease of connection, tabs are sometimes machined in the busbars or extensions are welded to the edges of the busbars.
Operations like machining and welding are relatively time consuming and expensive operations. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to use plug-in tabs which are easy to form and require no wasted or added material.
To facilitate ease of connection, busbars have been bent or otherwise offset in proximity to a power tap-off section so adjacent busbars are spaced from each other. A portion of conductive material is then exposed along the busbars so that an appropriate plug connector can be attached to the busbars without danger of contacting the wrong busbar. This process of bending the busbars so the conductive portions are spaced from each other is a time consuming and costly method of forming a power tap-off section. Accordingly, it would be advantageous if extending tabs could be formed along the edge of each busbar with sufficient space between them to facilitate connection of an appropriate connector plug without requiring bending of the busbars, which results in a widened busway.